Blogging About Communication

Communication in Your Life

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  • YOU HAVE DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS, BUT ARE THEY CONSTRUCTIVE?

    A constructive conversation is a special kind of talk. It’s an intentional and candid dialogue with the focus placed on achieving mutual understanding. The goal of a constructive conversation is problem-solving, not winning. It’s a robust exchange of ideas, in which the parties feel heard and respected. Engaging in a constructive conversation enables people with…

  • WHO’S ON YOUR TEAM?

    We often need to work with others to make decisions, solve problems, and accomplish specific goals. In effect, we function as a team with each of the individuals we work with performing a particular role with respect to the others and works with them, cooperating to achieve a desired end. What Actions Make a Team…

  • WHO DO YOU TRUST?

    According to American novelist Ernest Hemingway, “The best way to discover if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” How many of the many people you interact with regularly do you trust? How many of them do you think trust you? What is Trust? Trust requires the presence of both trusting and trustworthy behavior.…

  • FRIENDS

    How many real friends do you have? Although sadly some eight percent of Americans report having no close friends, more than fifty percent report having between one and four good friends, and over thirty-eight percent report having five or more close friends. Characteristics of Close Friendships Close friendships share these eight characteristics: (1) The friends…

  • IS IT HARDER TO LISTEN TO PEOPLE YOU KNOW WELL?

    A recently published cartoon depicted a woman speaking on her cell. Her husband interrupts her from another room, saying: “Mind if I comment on a conversation I’m not listening to?” Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation? We Display Closeness Communication Bias The closer we feel to someone, the more we think we…

  • THE STORIES WE TELL

    Are you a storyteller? Whether you post to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or some other venue, what’s ends up being of most significance to others are the stories you tell about your life. The role of storyteller is one of the oldest in history. Episode by episode, we reveal our lives and connect with others. WE…

  • ARE WE TOO FOCUSED ON NOT BEING “WOKE” TO BE CIVIL?

    Are you and your friends and colleagues able to disagree without coming off as disagreeable? Do you think we should be able to express displeasure without displaying rancor or offending others? Do you? IN THE NEWS Recently President Trump used the “R-Word” when referring to a number of people he disagreed with. Contrastingly, both Lizzo…

  • ARE YOU NEW CAREER READY?

    According to LinkedIn, many of the jobs we aspire to fill today have title descriptions that did not exist 25 years ago. Among these jobs are social media influencer, online content creator, knowledge architect, prompt engineer, story-teller, growth officer, and conversation designer. Many of these newer positions involve working with Artificial Intelligence. THE TRANSFORMATION IS…

  • THE POWER OF WORDS

    Do words matter? Might changing the word school to learning community affect the behavior of students and educators? Might relabeling a population a community alter how members think about themselves? How do the words we use influence our attitudes toward one another? How might they influence our attitudes toward how we should approach our differences?…

  • WHAT’S YOUR WORD OF THE YEAR?

    Dictionaries are known for identifying a word of the year. In 2023, different dictionaries identified as the word of the year “rizz””—short for charisma, and authentic.  In 2024, the words chosen were polarization and brain rot. For 2025, Oxford University Press has selected “rage bait” as its word of the year, underscoring the potential for…